Chapter Four: Through the glass.

"I think I know the reason why we're both here." Marinette's words stick in his mind, replaying in a loop like a Spotify playlist.

Her gaze is still riveted on the shiny jewel on his right hand. Her own hand still lingers over his, the rubbing gesture of her thumb on the transparent glass, giving him the impression that she wants to polish his ring. Then she flashes him a soft smile, looking up at him shortly before looking back at his Miraculous.

He's not sure anymore if what he thought he knew she knows is still what he thought she knew in the first place—and this is getting confusing. So surely sounding like a broken record, he repeats his question once again.

"You know?" His own gaze darts to his ring before looking up at her, expecting her confirmation.

"I know." She nods shyly and winks at him before speaking again. "I think we were kidnapped by one of your groupies and she must think I'm your girlfriend…" She speaks very loud as she says that, almost shouting for the whole world to hear, actually as if she wants for the whole world to hear—for their kidnapper to hear that she's on the wrong track and far from putting a finger on the true reason why they're trapped here. Yet her eyes tell a completely different story: Someone's after your Miraculous… She keeps stroking his ring through the glass, her free hand slowly moving to tuck a dark lock of hair behind her ear as she tilts her head. Her fingers linger on there, surreptitiously fidgeting with her earring while she crooks her neck even more to put her jewel on display for him. "But it's all a misunderstanding, isn't it?" She gives him big eyes while her fingers finally release her earring. For some reason, her statement doesn't sit right with the message that her gestures and her gaze try to convey.

Again, it seems like her eyes try to tell the leftover of the unsaid story: ...and after mine. Someone's after both our Miraculouses.

This is when the truth hit him like a bulldozer crossing the mirrored walls of this labyrinth, blasting everything in its path, that even its own body trampled like another vulgar glass.

The still sinking-in truth is enough to sweep him off his feet as he stumbles backwards and falls. It doesn't only make him lose his balance, but also his means, whereas he looks up at her dazed and speechless.

"R-right," Adrien stutters after a while. He speaks in a loud voice even though there's a lump in his throat. He gulps and blinks, looking at his ring, looking up at her, back at his Miraculous, back at her earring.

Well, shit. Truth be told, he didn't see it coming.

Although, of course there was another explanation for an akumatized villain to target and trap only the two of them. How did he not even think of this earlier? What's even worse, he told her so carefreely earlier that it was her and him against the labyrinth. He unknowingly planted the seed in her mind, not even grasping his own bait.

Damn it. Obviously, Ladybug hasn't come yet. Needless to say she won't ever come.

Ladybug is already here with him.

She's here.

With him.

His head starts to spin, his eyes suddenly rolling back in their sockets—the accumulated pressure from the last couple of minutes getting the better of him as the revelation finally sinks in, coming altogether.

And, blackout.

«Tiptoe through the window, by the window, that is where Marinette will be.

Come tiptoe through the tulips with your Lady.»

As far as Adrien remembers, those are not the lyrics of the freaking drive-you-up-the-wall music. And he knows something about it; this one has been playing for hours now. Maybe he banged his head against the concrete when he fell. Hence the auditory hallucination.

Wait…

What is he actually doing lying on the floor?

The call of his name seemingly breaks through the fog in his mind. Or it seems so. The melody, the underlying meaning of the lyrics and the confusion still make it hard to distinguish between the real and the imaginary.

"Adrien! Wake up!" Yet this truly echoes like Marinette's voice. He's not imagining it.

"I swear you reckless dork, don't you dare to do that to me!" And this undoubtedly sounds like his Lady.

It's suddenly all coming back to him; the reveal, that is.

What a sissy: he passed out! What a nice way to deal with his wildest dream finally coming true.

Actually, it's not so surprising that he has some trouble taking in so much at once. Maybe it's not the way he imagined it would happen, the way both fantasy and reality would merge together, but it did happen anyway. He had imagined the top of the Tour Eiffel, The Jardin des Tuileries, or perhaps her small, but oh so welcoming and comforting balcony—because of course, he had dreamed of Marinette turning out to be his Lady. Who else? In his dreams, there's candles, roses, Italian food and maybe wine… definitely some vintage Puglia red wine.

Yet the reveal eventually ended up happening in unexpected and unthinkable circumstances, to say the least, and he can only face it now, even if it's not unfurling as he hoped. And he certainly never hoped for them to be kidnapped and trapped in such a stroboscopic place that would give any epileptic a seizure worthy of a heart attack.

Still, despite the unfortunate situation in which they find themselves, there's no other person he would rather be stuck with. His lady is smart, confident, and together, they both make a foolproof and strong duo. If anyone can manage to make it out of here, it's them.

"I'm not doing anything. You just caught me off guard, M'l—Marinette," he whispered as he turned his still flushed face toward her.

They can make it out of here if they stay ahead of the game. And to do that, Adrien has to be careful to keep the cat in the bag, not out because he's as excited as a prepubescent teenager dating the girl of his dreams. Although, he isn't dating her, so that solves one problem—the cat stays in the bag.

"You passed out!" she shrieked, banging one flat hand against the transparent glass standing between them.

"Just dozed off. It's getting a little bit hot here." Coded message for: It's like you just threw a bucket of burning embers straight in my face.

From now on, they would have to understand each other without saying too much.

"Let's break the ice then." She glares at him and he suddenly sees it as clear as day: her Ladybug sassiness, chillin' in all its glory.

"So… you do think that the melody choice isn't a coincidence?" Marinette asks him as she desperately tries to fan herself with her hand.

His partner has already removed her jacket and sweater, which leaves her in a tiny strapless top. She's still very pale but hot (in both senses of the word), and sometimes seems to run out of oxygen, coughing and choking on thin air.

Adrien is worried because from his own standpoint and sensations, it's far from warm. It's actually quite cold. Cold enough to force him to curl up into a ball, knees bent against his chest in a desperate attempt to keep his body heat… well, in his body.

His arms come to wrap his knees, the palm of his hand rubbing and chasing the numbing sensation as he shrugs. "You mean, except that it's coming straight from a horror movie? Yes, I do think it's not a coincidence," he belabored. "Tiptoe through the window, by the window, that is where I'll be," he hums as the lyrics go by with the melody echoing around them.

Indeed, he's convinced that the window can represent the glass wall between him and Marinette. But there's even more… he believes that there's a way out of the labyrinth by breaking the right mirror. At least, it's what the freaky tune seems to say—that is where I'll be—and he's willing to follow that plausible clue. The only problem is that it's a labyrinth of magic mirrors, which means that he needs magic powers if he wants to compete. Meaning he has to use his own magical touch—his cataclysm. Which implicates bringing Chat Noir out of the bag… ahem, shadows.

Adrien actually has a whole plan ready in his mind… sort of. Minus the fact that his Lady doesn't know anything about it.

Not yet.

Though he can't tell her out loud; he's still worried that they can be heard and he doesn't want to blow the lid off the show until the finale. He hopes he can make her understand his plan through the creepy song. Because there's no way he could transform and use his cataclysm without warning her before and getting her consent. So he just starts to hum the first lyrics, the part which sounds useful to him and which he thinks isn't playing by chance.

Marinette looks at him quizzically, and a little sickened as he croons louder. Great. Now, he wishes she won't keep that image of him singing that freaky song etched in her memory after this. The last thing he wants is for her not to be able to look him in the eye. He already has enough to deal with given the fact that she always seems to choose to run away when she stumbles into Adrien.

"There's no window," Marinette suddenly states matter-of-factly, putting an end to his ghoulish singing.

Adrien tilts his head, and almost feels his eyes rolling of their own will; it looks like a little bug has started to rub off on him.

Knocking against the glass wall between them, he feels his lips twitching and stretching into a smirk. Geez, she's not going to like that and he knows it…

"You're not actually thinking what I think you're thinking, right?" Her pitch raises.

He gives her a shrug and presses his lips together, his eyes gleaming with a hint of childishness as he starts fidgeting with his Miraculous.

Marinette's giving him back kind of a stern mother-like gaze. The one that scolds a little child caught with his hand in the cookie jar and that would make him not want to do it again so soon. A severe look saying something along these lines: Don't you dare or I swear I'll shake the rotten apples down your tree. And by shaking, he knows she actually meant to rattle him until he sounds like a modern rendition of jingle bells performing in a cat's-bell-solo.

Although, she knows he can sometimes have unbridled crazy ideas, so he wonders how she can still be surprised when he comes up with something so reckless.

"They don't know that we know they know," he cryptically said with a helpless grin. Well, she was aware of what he wanted to do. Now he had to get her to agree with him to just do it, which he knew wasn't going to be an easy task or a foregone conclusion.

"Do you seriously think it's the right time to quote Friends?"

"Yes, I think it's the right time," he solemnly clarified. His eyes bore into hers with an intensity that allowed the unspoken to easily slip between them. "One must try something to break the strain, don't you think?"

"Why does it always have to be you?" She looks down at her feet as she comes to terms with the idea and eventually gives in.

"Because I'm the reckless one, you said so, remember?" Adrien smiles fondly and stands up from his scrunched position.

Marinette follows him, getting back on her feet and leaning a hand against the glass. "I wish I could be wrong sometimes..."

Right… but, no matter how risky it seems, she's with him on this one. For her, he would be ready to climb up to the moon and back.

Adrien lays his hand upon hers and takes a slow, deeper breath as he gives her a nod. "Ready?"

She nods and instinctively takes a step backwards as Adrien mimics her move. He then takes another breath and shifts all the limbs of his body, a bit like a player warming up at halftime and getting ready to enter the field.

Adrien's hands ball into tight fists at his sides and he slowly breathes out; it's time for Chat Noir to get into the game.